Final Fantasy 7: Story Edition
by Miharu Kishimoto
Summary: Sorry... but this story's postponed for awhile. This isn't my fanciest work, though. I may decide to rewrite this and continue it one day.
1. Avalanche and the North Mako Reactor

**A/N: **Don't sue me, don't sue me! Kudasai! Please read my disclaimer before suing me, then you might have a change of mind. Yes, we all know they're just a legal boring addition everyone must have at the beginning of their fics, but my story is not fully original, you see. So, here it is! - Dun dun dun. -

**Disclaimer:** I do _not_ own FF7. This includes the characters, and even the plotline of this particular story. I wanted to recreate the entire FF7 game into one big story. I've gathered as much info as I could, and still gathering, including all the dialogue that's spoken in the game. So generically I do not own 95 percent of this story. The only 5 percent I own are the descriptions in writing this story, and credit for writing the story itself. I hope you enjoy! Wish me luck on this ginormously long project.

**A/N:** I will add an intro later that tells a bit about Midgar's appearance, and possibly the scene with Aeris in.

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- Chapter One -

**Avalanche and the North Mako Reactor**

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Somewhere within the northern corners of the capital, Midgar, a train set its brakes to a slow halt, coming to a full stop at the train station some minutes later. Two motionless guards dressed in formal red uniforms stood just outside the halted train. Two older boys hopped out the train instantly while the two guards immediately ran towards the two boys, yelling "Hey you! Stop!" They sensed suspicion.

The boys reacted immediately by jumping the two guards, knocking them down and unconscious without a word, as if it were already planned. One other girl jumped off the train, all of them rushing northwards, taking a turn into an alleyway that lead into a larger area. It was obviously not meant to be trespassed by unauthorized people. This intrusion set alarms and red flashing lights off all over.

The last man to jump out of the train didn't appear to fit the rest of the gang. He owned rather light blonde hair that was kept slightly long in the front, and short in the back. He also kept the front of his hair lazily spiked, which allowed some of the spikes to fall to the sides of his face, but others were kept up. He's a 21 year old man with an earring on his left ear, left shoulder armor, darkly colored gloves, a navy blue vest and pants, short boots and carries a ridiculously large sword as his weapon, sheathed on his back.

"C'mon newcomer. Follow me!" The black man told the blonde. Quickly, he ran and followed the others to their destination. The unidentified blonde followed, but was interrupted by a group of two solders dressed completely in blue uniforms, guns held in ready position. They ran towards the male, aiming their guns.

"Hey, you! Halt! Intruder!" They hollered.

Quickly, the boy unsheathed his sword and held it in front of him. This sword was large enough to block any gun attacks, much used like a steel shield. A split second later, he was protected by two gunshots they each fired. He used a summersault between the two soldiers, rising up behind them before elbowing them both roughly on their upper backs, then shunning them in a painful manner, knocking them to the ground unconscious. He didn't hesitate a moment to catch up with the rest of the gang, taking a turn and meeting them in front of a large metal gate, all together.

"Wow, you used to be in Soldier all right! …Not everyday ya find one in a group like Avalanche." Biggs, one of the group members, commented.

"Wait a minute. Soldier? Aren't they the enemy? What's he doing in Avalanche?" Jessie, the only female in the group, asked as she looked hesitantly at the ex-Soldier. Biggs only shook his head, and looked back at Jessie.

"Hold it, Jessie. He _was_ in Soldier. He quit and now is one of us." Biggs turned to the victorious blonde, "Didn't catch your name…"

"…Cloud." He responded lowly, looking up at the reactor tower ahead of them, but quite a distance off. He didn't pay much attention to anything else going on, except whatever interference might cross his path. Just like those previous soldiers attempting to fight him. Boy, wasn't that a mistake.

"Cloud, eh? I'm—"

"I don't care what your names are. Once this job's over… I'm outta here." Cloud responded, sheathing his sword into the sheath attached to his back. He held the same expression on his face; without a smile. Before Biggs could respond to Cloud's moody attitude, the large black man rushed to the group, looking at them a bit upset.

"The hell y'all doin'? I thought I told you to never move in a group!" he ranted. They all just rolled their eyes and nodded, awaiting his next command. "Our target's the North Mako Reactor. We'll meet on the bridge in front of it. Got it?" Everyone else nodded.

At the touch of a nearby button planted into the wall, the metal gate opened. Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge moved on, the leader stopping only a few feet ahead. He looked back at Cloud.

"Ex-Soldier, eh? Don't trust ya!" He warned, before then moving on, forcing Cloud to move on and catch up. There was no way they could waste any time; anyone could catch up to them. If they're caught, they're all busted big time, and their plan would be smashed.

Barret Wallace, if you haven't yet noticed, is the leader of the Avalanche organization group. Avalanche is a group dedicated to destroying Shinra's plans to proceed and drain the Mako energy from the planet in forming new technology and productions for our conveniences. He's a very largely built muscle black man with a black buzz cut. He's 35 years old with an earring on his left ear, a tattoo of a skull imprinted on his left upper arm, he wore a tan-colored vest left open with no shirt, a black fingerless glove on his right hand and a big round machine gun for his left arm (He lost his arm a number of years ago), a dog tag, silver metal around his waist, green pants and large boots.

Cloud took one last glance at the Mako Reactor, and headed forth, proceeding to enter the reactor itself. Just as Barret said, he was found on a long bridge with the rest of the gang. About halfway across the bridge, there was another one bridging off to the side, leading into another entrance. Sort've like a T shape if you looked at it from a certain angle above. They all headed into one of the entrances.

"Yo! This your first time in a reactor?" Barret asked Cloud, the others standing quietly as they awaited Barret's next command.

"No. After all, I did work for Shinra y'know."

"The planet's full of Mako energy. People here use it everyday. It's the life blood of the planet. But Shinra keeps suckin' the blood out with these weird machines!" He explained with an upset tone of voice, mainly directed towards Shinra Inc. for doing as he said.

"I'm not here for a lecture. Let's just hurry and get this over with." Cloud simply stated.

"That's it! You're comin' with me from now on."

Jessie and Biggs deciphered the code to open the gate before them, Jessie, Cloud and Barret rushed through to decipher the next code on the next gate. She opened the second gate, and the three members headed into the elevator, the door automatically shutting behind them.

"Press that button over there." Jessie pointed, standing by the elevator's door. Cloud did as he was told, pressing the up button. As they waited, Barret spoke.

"Little by little the reactor'll drain out all the life. And that'll be that."

"It's not my problem." Cloud shrugged calmly.

"The planet's dyin', Cloud!"

"The only thing I care about is finishin' this job before security and the Roboguards come."

Barret had a hard time keeping his anger to himself. He shook his fist quietly, letting himself steam off. He was getting pissed by Cloud's attitude, anyone could see that. The elevator reached its destination, and the door slid open. Everyone quickly rushed out. They all proceeded through rooms at a time, noticing the signs and flashes saying "Warning" or "Intruder Alert!" constantly. This merely triggered them to pace quicker before anyone could catch up to them and stop them from accomplishing Avalanche's goal. They battled a few enemies here and there, but nothing too hard to handle. At one point while walking along a large metal railing with several crossed holes in them, Jessie got her foot stuck while quickly pacing to catch up. She fell down with a thump.

"Aaah!" She screamed. She tugged and tugged, but her foot wouldn't become free.

"Jessie!" Barret rushed back to help Jessie, but she only waved him away quickly after realizing the time shortage they were in.

"No, stop. You two go along, or we'll all get caught! Hurry and set the bomb. Go!" She waved them off. Barret hesitantly nodded, and ran forward for a number of feet. He took one look back at Jessie, and gave her a thumbs up; a signal saying, "We're gonna do this. Wish us luck." He nodded, then caught up with Cloud.

Eventually they reached the room of the bomb, a bridge leading to the reactor's core where they could set off the bomb to blow the entire reactor up.

"When we blow this place, this ain't gonna be nothin' more than a hunka junk." Barret nodded to Cloud, "Cloud, you set the bomb."

"Shouldn't you do it?" He looked to Barret.

"Jus' do it! I gotta watch to make sure you don't pull nothin'."

Cloud shrugged. "Fine. Be my guest."

At this moment, Cloud blinked into a sudden unexpected flashback of an unidentified moment. He shut his eyes blankly as he heard a voice in his head say something along the lines of "Watch out! This ain't just a reactor!" But the voice was also unknown. Cloud held his hand to his forehead painfully and confused. Barret blinked.

"…What's wrong?"

"Huh?" Cloud shook his head, and looked up at Barret.

"What's wrong, Cloud? Hurry it up!"

"…Yeah, sorry." Shaking himself back into reality, he walked up to the bomb. He kneeled down, and pressed a few buttons to decipher some code, causing the bomb to be set. A rumble was then heard, but not from the bomb itself. Barret looked back.

"Heads up, here they come!" He warned out loud, loading his machine gun-arm immediately, while Cloud unsheathed his sword. Something caught up to them, and it wasn't anything ordinary or small.

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**A/N:** What could this be? What caught up to Cloud and Barret, and how are they going to get out in time before the bomb explodes? What about Jessie, will she get her foot free before time's up? If she doesn't, kabloom. Find out in chapter two, coming soon. Hope you enjoyed! Leave a review at the doorstep, kudasai!

_In Japanese, "kudasai" means "please" for non-Nihongo speakers. (…Oops.)_


	2. Battle, Escape, and Hop Aboard!

**A/N: **Thank you all for your wonderful reviews, I always love to hear your feedback. Keep reviewing!The span of time between updates will be as short as possible. Hopefully I'll be able to continue this story 'till the end of the game. Anyway… now to find out what caught up to Barret and Cloud! Enjoy. R&R!

**Disclaimer:** No I don't own FF7's characters or the plotline. I simply turned the game into a written/typed story.

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- Chapter Two -

**Battle, Escape, and Hop Aboard!**

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What both Cloud and Barret saw was not at all pleasant to see. Crossing the bridge and catching up to them was a rather large scorpion-looking giant red robot. It didn't look very happy, either.

"Oh boy…" Barret mumbled, aiming his gun-arm and shooting the robot several times. It raised its claws in defense, and settled in a position to attack. Cloud didn't move, but instead looked up at the scorpion creature, awaiting its next move so he could counter-attack. Meanwhile, Barret kept shooting, dealing some damage but not enough to destroy it.

"What are you doing, Cloud? Hurry up and attack it!" He yelled. The scorpion tried to ignore the shooting, and aimed for Cloud, the motionless prey. It raised its red tail, lowered its body and charged up.

"Watch out, it's gonna fire at you!"

"I know what I'm doing. Do you think I was accepted in SOLDIER for nothing?" He simply stated in response. Right when the scorpion was ready to fire, it shot its laser directly at Cloud. He quickly dodged it, acting as if it were nothing. Now that the scorpion needs to recharge, he took this opportunity to jump the robot and stab its main functional system, right on its back. But before he stabbed, he tried to maintain his balance from the struggling scorpion. Cloud's second problem was trying to avoid its tail from poking and stabbing at him.

"Ow, damn it!" He murmured as he held his hand to his upper left arm, where the tail slashed against his skin. It was nothing but a mere scratch; he was lucky. But it stung. Fortunately, he found the heart of the robotic beast on its back, and stabbed right through it. On a living creature, it would be no different than stabbing the heart right through.

"Awright!" Barret cheered, watching the scorpion stagger in circles, eventually crashing and stumbling to the ground, a blue tint of electricity tickling its steel body all over as it slowly died. Cloud quickly jumped off and walked to Barret, acting normal, as though if it wasn't much of a challenge.

"Crap! The bomb!" Barret immediately remembered, looking back at the timer. Cloud's eyes widened just a bit, also just remembering.

"Only ten minutes. Let's get outta here." Cloud warned calmly, sheathing his sword.

"Jessie! We gotta help 'er."

"We'll get her on the way. Come on Barret!"

They wasted no time. Quickly rushing across the bridge, they flew through the door and back along the same path they came in. Climbing a large set of steps, they took a few turns and into another door. But to their surprise, there appeared a dark blue large cat-like creature with a long tentacle floating above its back, hooked to the back of its head. Right after it appeared two more.

"Ah crap, just what we need." Barret complained. He took aim and shot the cat furthest on the left, and killed it in one shot. In the meantime, one leaped at Cloud. He kept it away from biting his face, but just barely. He couldn't get a chance to unsheathe his sword. Noticing this, Barret took the sword from his sheath on his back and handed it to him.

"Looking for this?" Barret winked. Cloud smirked.

"Heh… Thanks, I guess." He struggled to push the cat off of him, but took his sword in one hand, raised it and slashed through the cat, knocking it back and over.

…_6 minutes and 30 seconds…_

"Man your breath stinks." Cloud cringed at the dead cat, then turned his attention over to the third and final one. Barret raised his gun and shot, but the cat dodged. With another shot, he hit, and Cloud finished it off with a cross cut.

"Damn! We're wasting time. Avoid any upcoming enemies!" He commanded, and rushed quickly on.

_...5 minutes and 10 seconds…_

After maneuvering through as many shortcuts as possible, climbing ladders and descending staircases, they finally reached Jessie. Her foot was still stuck, but she was quite happy to see Barret and Cloud again.

"Barret! Cloud! You made it!" She said happily. Quickly Cloud kneeled down and tugged gently at her foot, moving it around so it'd harmlessly break free. He nodded to her to stand up and hurry.

…_4 minutes and 30 seconds…_

"Wow, thanks Cloud." Jessie smiled, moving her foot muscles around a bit so she could hurry with the others.

"C'mon, we have no time to waste." He told her, already moving ahead of her while Barret was way ahead of them, enforcing and signaling them to catch up.

_...3 minutes and 48 seconds..._

Four more minutes. They were so close to escaping, yet it felt like it was so far away. They've flown through doorways, ran down staircases, and nearly fell or tripped while descending ladders. But eventually... they met Wegde, and Biggs waiting for them just outside.

...23 seconds...

"Ay, you guys made it out!" Wedge happily called out to them as they approached further and further to safety, panting like a pack of dogs.

"It's gonna blow! Get back!" Barret warned. Cloud kept his same expression, and simply turned around to watch the reactor. Soon, it will be no longer. No more sucking out the life blood of the planet, at least in this sector. They're not finished blowing up reactors just yet. As Cloud watched, he could almost feel the time bomb ticking away.

...8 seconds...

Silence, nothing else was heard around him, but the tick.. tick.. tick..

...5 seconds...

He could feel his heart beat inside of him, in rhythm to the ticking of the seconds remaining...

...3 seconds...

...2 seconds...

...1 second--

With an extraordinary loud explosion, Wedge, Biggs, Jessie, Barret, and Cloud all watched intently as the reactor blew up with massive amounts of fire coming out from every direction in the tower, in one big fire cloud mixed with black smoke. It all slowly raised, the reactor tower slowly beginning to crumble and fall to its final destruction. AVALANCHE successfully and proudly accomplished their goal. Barret nodded and smiled at the reactor, watching it tumble to the ground. Cloud simply watched it unexpressingly, an intent look on his face.

"That should keep the planet going... at least a little longer." Biggs finally spoke, looking back at the others.

"Yeah." Wedge replied.

"All right, now let's get out of here. Rendezvous at Sector 8 Station! Split up and get on the train!" Barret commanded. Everyone immediately rushed out in opposite directions, yet all heading to the same destination. Cloud stopped Barret.

"H, hey!"

"If it's about your money, save it 'till we get back at the hideout." Barret instantly replied, as if knowing what Cloud's complaint would be. And indeed he did, it was exactly what Cloud was going to ask. He huffed, but simply moved on.

The gang moved along to do whatever needed business in a particular area within the slums before they boarded the train to leave. Cloud sighed to himself, not really having anywhere to go or any duties to attend to before they departed. All he wanted was his money, but he'd have to wait. For now, he wandered about with his hands in his pockets, observing some scenery around him in the slums. What a sight to behold... cough. He couldn't understand how anyone could survive living in these regions of Midgar. But he also knew that no one had a choice, this city was crowded enough.

He stopped. Some number of feet before him stood a girl dressed in a pink dress-like skirt and a magenta-colored vest. Her brunette hair was braided back into one braid, a large pink bow that was used to keep her hair back, and she carried a basket full of flowers. He had no clue what a girl like her was doing in the middle of the slums, busy guys roaming around doing their duties, whatever it may be. She seemed like a colored flower in a black and white, polluted picture.

"Excuse me. What happened?" She politely asked Cloud, of which he wasn't expecting. He scratched the back of his head.

"Nothing.." He responded with a shake of his head, "Hey, listen..."

"Yes?"

"Don't see too many flowers around here." He responded with a slight smile. "I see you've got a bunch."

"Oh, these? Do you like them?" She blushed with a smile, raising her basket of flowers just a little bit. Cloud smiled with a nod. "Would you like to buy one...? They're only one gil."

"Of course." He quickly took out one golden coin and handed it to the girl, a pleased smile on her face.

"Oh, thank you!" She bowed to him politely, and handed him a flower. "Here you are." He took the flower, and carefully placed it in his front shirt pocket, nodding a thanks to the girl.

After the meeting with the girl, Cloud needed to move on. AVALANCHE was probably getting ready by now to go on the train. He hoped he wouldn't be late. Had he procrastinated that much?

"Hey! It's you again!" One man yelled from behind Cloud. Gunshots were heard from behind him, thus he quickly ducked and unsheathed his sword all in one maneuver. He spotted two guard soldiers in the same blue uniform from before. They were Shinra soldiers all right. And they're pretty upset after what happened to the Mako Reactor tower. There was no doubt Cloud was held accountable as one of the ones who blew it up.

"You! Stop where you are! Now!" Another voice yelled from his right. He was nearby a bridge that bridged above a subway, so he slowly backed up, eventually being surrounded by Shinra soldiers in a full circle.

"You blew up that reactor, didn't you?" One of them pointed their guns at him as they asked sternly. "Answer me!"

Cloud merely held a smirk on his face, but he never responded. He back up slowly, further and further to the edge. If he fell, he'd fall right onto the train tracks. His fellow AVALANCHE members must've already gotten on the train, so it shouldn't be long... before...

The further they advanced on him; it was at the perfect moment. He jumped the edge, but didn't land on the train tracks.

Instead he landed right on top of the passing train, carrying him down a tunnel before approaching the clear opening once more.

"Damn it! Damn it all!" One of the Shinra soldiers cursed, throwing his rifle to ground. The others just mumbled and murmured some curses, then walked away slowly. "There is no way he could've survived it... with how fast the train was going... Damn... it... all to hell! We almost had 'im!"

_In the meanwhile..._

"Cloud never came." Wedge pointed out, swinging his feet back and forth slowly, sitting atop a large steel box aboard the train. Biggs looked up at Wedge.

"Cloud... wonder if he was killed?"

"No way!" Barret butted in defensively.

"Cloud..." Jessie said quietly, almost to herself. Anyone could tell she was in deep thought about something. He practically saved her from being stuck in the reactor before explosion.

"Say, do you think Cloud's... Going to fight to the end for AVALANCHE?" Biggs pondered, looking around at the group members. They all had blank, ponderous looks on their faces.

"The hell would I know? Do I look like a mind reader?" Barret barked, he was just a tad but moody. Other than that he remained silent, an almost pouting look on his face while keeping his arms crossed. He kept his view away from the group members. "Hmph! If y'all weren't such screw-ups..." He lastly mumbled. Wedge budged in at the wrong time.

"Hey, Barret, what about our money?" He asked. Barret simply slammed his fist on the crate next to him, recrossing his arms. "Uh, nothin'... sorry."

There was a sudden _thump thump_ heard from above them. At first no one paid much attention to this, so they ignored it. Musta been somethin-- _thump thump... thump_. By this, everyone started looking up, trying to figure out what was causing the noise.

The door suddenly slid open which led to outside, and Cloud jumped right in. Everyone, surprised, jumped up.

"Cloud!"

"Cloud..."

"Cloud!" Everyone but Barret called at once. Cloud smirked slightly, and then shrugged like nothing ever happened.

"Looks like I'm a little late." He said calmly. Barret immediately jumped up, being the last one to do so.

"You're damn right, you're late! Come walktzin' in here makin' a big scene!" He ranted.

"It's no big deal. Just what I always do."

"Shit! Havin' everyone worried like that. You don't give a damn 'bout no one but yerself!"

"Hmm... You were worried about me?" Cloud snickered, watching Barret just get further upset than he already needed to be. He could tell something was bothering Barret, but it was nothing than merely Cloud's attitude, and failure to show up like asked.

"Wha? I'm takin' it outta your money, hot stuff!" Barret turned to everyone else, "Wake up! We're movin' out! Follow me!" And with that, Barret quickly moved to the next car on the train. Everyone took this opportunity to comment on Cloud without pissing Barret off anymore.

"Hey, Cloud! You were great back there!" Wedge slapped his hand on Cloud's back as a compliment, then proceeded forth to the next car following Barret.

"Heh heh... Cloud. With you here, we'll do even better next time." Biggs added, then departed. Lastly, Jessie walked up to Cloud, the only two in the car left.

"Be careful, I'll shut this." She said, sliding the door closed that led to outside, while the train was still moving in enormous haste. She turned back to him, and noticed the black smudges on his face from the explosion. "Oh, Cloud! Your face..." She then wiped his face, cleaning the black areas off with her sweater. "There you go. Say, thanks for helping me back there at the reactor..." Cloud merely nodded with a slight smile, but not much of a one. It took quite a bit to make this guy smile big, and really mean it. He then proceeded to the next car, followed by Jessie.

A voice was heard over the intercom.

"Last train out of Sector 8 Station. Last stop is Sector 7. Train Graveyard. Expected time of arrival is 12:23AM, Midgar Standard Time..."

This car was a bit more for passengers, each side of the train had one long bench, only cushioned and covered with red leather. Barret sat down and relaxed a bit, while Jessie was over in the front looking at some picture. He couldn't see it from where he was, so he walked up to talk to her. She was looking through it a bit intently, which got him all too curious.

"Hey, Cloud. You want to look at this with me?" He nodded a 'sure.', "It's a map of the Midgar Railing System. I'll explain it to you. I like this kinda stuff, bombs and monitors... you know, flashy stuff. Okay, it's about to start." Cloud watched the screen, now turning black. But no longer was it black, for a green model of something with an intricate and highly detailed structure of some sort. It was like a modeling plan, all green and thousands of lines constructing the model of this structure on-screen. "This is a complete model of the city Midgar. It's about 1/10000 scale. The top plate is about 50 meters above the ground. A main support structure holds the plate up in the center, and there are other support structures built in each sector." Jessie paused for a moment, and lowered herself to a whisper. "The No. 1 Reactor we blew up was in the northern section." Her voice returned to normal volume. "Then there's No. 2, No. 3 all the way up to the No. 8 Reactor. The 8 Reactors provide Midgar with electricity. Each town used to have a name, but no one remembers them. Instead of names, we refer to them by numbered sections. That's the kinda place this is. Phew..." The model disappeared, but then another structure took place. It looked like a closer view of Midgar than the previous screen, but not by too much. "This is next! Look. This is the route this train is on. The route spirals around the main support structure. We should be coming around the center area, right now. At each checkpoint, an ID sensor device is up. It can check the identities and background of each and every passenger on the train by linking it up to the central data bank at Shinra Headquarters." Her voice lowered back into a whisper. "Anyone could tell that we look suspicious, so we're using fake ID's--" She was quickly interrupted by a red alert light flashing throughout each car. Everyone looked around, but said nothing. "Speak of the devil. That light means we're in the ID Security Check area. When the lights go off, you'll never know what kind of creeps'll come out." She sighed, "Anyhow, we're almost back now. That's a relief." Cloud nodded, after all the model thing was rather interesting. But he had not much to say. Thus he went to Barret, who seemed to be enjoying the view outside.

"Look... You can see the surface now. This city don't have no day or night. If that plate weren't there... we could see the sky." Barret pointed outside the window as they passed.

"A floating city... Pretty insetting scenery." Cloud commented.

"Huh? Never expect ta hear that outta someone like you." He shook his head, "...You jes' full of surprised." He looked back out the window, "The upper world... on a city plate... It's 'cause of that &$(# pizza', that people underneath are sufferin'! And the city below is full of polluted air. On toppa that, the Reactor keeps drainin' up all the energy."

"Then why doesn't everyone move onto the Plate?" Cloud asked.

"Dunno. Probably 'cause they ain't got no money. Or, maybe... 'Cause they love their land, no matter how polluted it gets." He replied with some deep thought.

"I know... no one lives in the slums because they want to. It's like this train. It can't run anywhere except where its rails take it."

For awhile, Barret and Cloud continued conversing with each other while the train took them around the center of Midgar, and eventually stopping at the train station. Everyone got ready to depart the train, Cloud, Barret, Biggs, Wedge and Jessie, stood up after it finally came to a halt. Everyone got out. This area was a bit more fixed up than the last station indeed. A lamp post stood tall nearby the nose of the train, and basically it was a large area of flat cement and three steps, but not much.

"Yo!" Barret called after a few minutes. "Get over here, all'ya! This mission was a success. But don't get lazy now. The hard part's still to come! Don't y'all be scared of that explosion, 'cause the next one's gonna be bigger than that! Meet back at the hideout! Move out!"

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**A/N: **Alright,I tried making this chapter as long as I could. But I shall most likely revise anything needed to be edited. So leave a review, I hope you enjoyed!


	3. Seventh Heaven

**AN: **Sorry it took awhile. I know it may have not seemed like awhile to you guys compared to most stories hardly ever updated on FanFiction, it seems like it to me. I made a vow to myself that I'd finish this story and work at a constant pace, so a week or more is too long for me. Anyway, enjoy. Review, too!

**Disclaimer:** Yeahyeah, you get the drift. SquareEnix owns FF7, not I.

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- Chapter Three -

**Seventh Heaven**

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Reluctantly, everyone nodded and followed the determined and energetic Barret. As always, Cloud strayed behind.

He never planned to stay with AVALANCHE. His only plan was to join, get the mission completed and over with, receive his money, and leave them for another quest of his own. It sometimes agitated him that Barret kept including him as a part of AVALANCHE, which made him wonder what Barret would think once Cloud leaves the group.

Suddenly, a series of loud gunshots were heard in one of the buildings within the slums, immediately snapping Cloud back to reality with a quick skip of a heartbeat. He scanned his surroundings

"Awright, everybody out! Out, out, out!" The most recognized heard voice yelled from the same building within.

_What the hell-?_ Cloud thought to himself, approaching the building as everyone ran out screaming, scattering the slums before stopping. Some of them were holding their chest, where their heart would be, in fear. But alas, some just stood around like nothing went wrong, as if it were part of their day's routine. Cloud walked up to the small house-like building, very old looking, and stopped at the base of the few steps leading to the doorway, of which Barret appeared at. He held his gun arm.

"What's going on?" Cloud simply asked.

"What? You've never seen an open fire? It's what I always do, it's an easy way to clear everyone out of Seventh Heaven." He said with an obviously guilty smile. Cloud sighed with relief, and shook his head. "Get yer spiky butt in here! We've got some business to take care of." He demanded, and then retreated inside.

_Oh, right… There's an AVALANCHE meeting. So, this is the place… real run-down…_

"Papa!" A small girl's voice broke out excitedly. "You're home!" Cloud walked in, and shut the door behind him. A small girl, with lightly-colored brown hair ran up to Barret and jumped up into his bear-like arms. Cloud also noticed Tifa, a young adult in her early twenties stood behind the bar counter, cleaning out some glasses with a rag. She has a hair band fastened to the tip of her long black hair, wore earrings, fingerless gloves, a short white sleeveless shirt, short black skirt and black leather boots.

With a simple smile she put down the glass and rag, and walked over to the others.

"Welcome, Cloud. Looks like everything went well." Then there came the question she would be expected to ask, "Did you fight with Barret?"

Cloud nodded with a shrug. "I guess you could say so."

"So you did. I should've known. He's always pushing people around, and you've always been in fights ever since you were young. I was worried..." She sighed softly, bringing up a moment of silence.

_Hmm… I nearly forgot… these flowers I got from that flower girl back in the slums…_

Cloud scratched the back of his head and cleared his throat. "Well, I can make up for it." He then carefully pulled out the flower he had been saving, bought for a mere 1 gil. He handed it to Tifa. "Here," he smiled, "these are for you."

"Flowers?" She smiled, "How nice… You almost never see flowers anymore in Midgar anymore." She smiled, and then looked up at him, "But, a flower for me? Cloud, you shouldn't have."

He again scratched the back of his head, then nodded simply. "Yeah… I figured you'd like them. Got them from a flower girl back in the slums up north. Don't know why she was there…"

"Thank you, Cloud. They smell wonderful… Maybe I should fill the store with flowers." Tifa turned her attention to Barret, who put Marlene down. "You all right, Barret?"

"Couldn't be better!"

_He seems really energetic… must be the big accomplishment AVALANCHE has done. Now he can't wait to get on with the next mako reactor to blow up, and I still haven't gotten my pay… Without me, they'd be toast right now. _Cloud sighed to himself.

"Get in here, fools! We're startin' the meeting!" Barret hollered which nearly knocked Biggs and Wedge off of their seats. Earlier, they were isolated in the corner, playing cards and having a few drinks on a round, wooden table.

"Fine, fine, we're comin'…" Biggs mumbled, and got up to reluctantly follow Barret.

The elevator for this bar was rather odd looking. It wasn't any elevator you might be familiar with. Rather, it was built to be an arcade machine. The ground it was built on was connected to the wall, which a system was built into the wall to form an elevation function. It was plenty more convenient than a regular elevator.

Biggs, Wedge and Cloud followed Barret, one or two at a time, going down the elevation machine to downstairs. This area was particularly made for hiding out, which is why the elevator was made out of an arcade machine. No one would notice its difference from other arcade machines, and its capabilities.

Down in the hideout, it was a decently sized room containing many things. This included a large flat-screen television set in the corner, with a computer next to it. Jessie had been down here working on the computer all along, and watching the news on the television also. In the opposite corner of the room, another round table to sit at, while in the top left corner, beside the television, was a punching bag.

Barret concentrated on beating the dark red bag up, mumbling to himself some words about Shinra with a few curse words in front of them, and phrases such as "I'll show you!" "Have a taste of this!" and it went on, right before he noticed Cloud's entrance. He stopped and turned to Cloud.

"Yo, Cloud! There's somethin' I wanna ask ya…" He wondered.

"Yeah?"

"Was there anyone from SOLDIER fighting us today?" Barret asked, folding his arms.

"None. I'm positive." Cloud nodded once with a firm look on his face. Barret scratched his sandpaper-like chin.

"Hmm… You sound pretty sure."

"If there were anyone from SOLDIER, you wouldn't be standing here right now." Cloud simply replied, though in more of a firm voice stating it as a true fact.

"Don't go thinkin' you so bad jes 'cause you was in SOLDIER." Barret responded with a raised tone of voice, but hardly yelling. Either way, it was enough to make the room go silent. Cloud sighed and remained silent.

_Man… he has much to learn about SOLDIER. I don't think he knows tha—.. Sigh, nevermind. It's not important. Barret will learn the true strength of SOLDIER eventually, I just don't want him to learn the hard way. Yet, either way, I _was _in SOLDIER, thus he's got me in his group to protect AVALANCHE._

…_For now._

"Yeah, you're strong. Probably all them guys in SOLDIER are," Barret broke the awkward silence, but this time his voice was softer. "But don't forget that your spiky butt's workin' for AVALANCHE now! Don't get no ideas 'bout hangin' with Shinra!" He raised his gun arm in frustration, in attempt to get his point across. Cloud kept his usual expression, always calm and serious. Cloud simply shrugged.

"Stayin' with Shinra? You asked me a question and I answered it, that's all. I'm going upstairs, I want to talk about my money." With his last word, he turned around back to the arcade machine. Before he could press the button to bring the elevator back down, it came down by itself. Tifa stood upon it.

"Wait, Cloud!" She stepped off the elevator, and let it go back up, standing in front of Cloud's way.

"Tifa! Let him go, looks like he still misses the Shinra!" Barret butted in.

"Shut up!" Cloud finally burst, a first sight for Barret, Biggs, Jessie and Wedge. "I don't care about either Shinra or SOLDIER!" He proceeded, the room now awkwardly quiet, all but Cloud, "I don't care about AVALANCHE or the planet for that matter!"

Everyone was silent, they had nothing more to say. Barret on the other hand began punching the bag he was concentrating on earlier in rage, but he refused to stir up a verbal argument. Instead of proceeding any further, Cloud headed back upstairs, and walked towards the door.

"Cloud…"

He blinked, and stopped. Followed behind him was Tifa, coming up on the elevation machine.

"Now what?"

"Listen, Cloud. I'm asking you, please join us."

"Sorry, Tifa…"

Tifa merely sighed for a moment, but spoke up in defense. "The planet is dying! Slowly but surely, it's dying… Someone has to do something, Cloud."

"So let Barret and his buddies save the world. The job just isn't for me. I'm no hero." He sighed, and turned back to the door, his gaze meeting the ground blankly, and his fingers softly wrapped around the door handle of the door. But he did not open it. Instead, he silently stood there and waited for what Tifa had to say.

"So, you're really leaving? You're just going to walk out that door, and forget all about your childhood friend?" Her look was saddened, but frustrated at the same time.

This caused a moment of silence to Cloud. Slowly, he turned around, and looked at her.

"…No." A soft tone was heard from him.

"Cloud, tell me this…" She cleared her throat, then looked at him, her eyes softening somewhat in a concerned look, "…do you remember our promise seven years ago?"

"Promise?"

"So, you _did_ forget. I should've figured." Tifa sighed softly, and sat down on the nearby chair. Cloud turned around so he would now be facing Tifa, and pressed his back softly against the door in listening mode.

"What… promise? Tell me."

"Do you remember the well…?" Tifa pointed out. Cloud tried to think for a moment, the memories sinking back into him.

**------------_  
Flashback  
_------------**

It occurred late at night. The small specks of little white dots were scattered across the deep midnight indigo sky, the air giving the sense of cool freshness throughout the quiet night. Cloud, a very young boy, sat at the well along the outskirts of Nibelheim, all alone.

At this age, he didn't look much different than he does now, other than his hair was grown out in the back, and tied into a pony tail. Yet of course, he's always had his blond trademark spikes sticking out of the front half of his head in all sorts of directions.

Although suddenly, a young girl resembling Tifa walked up to Cloud, and sat down beside him.

"Sorry I'm late." She apologized, gazing up at the night sky above. That night she wore a green dress, although it was oddly cold that night. "You said you wanted to talk about something?"

Cloud lifted his head, also looking up at the sky. "Come this spring, I'm leaving this town Midgar."

"…All boys are leaving our town."

"But… I'm different from all of them. I'm not just leaving to look for a job." He paused for a moment, and then sighed heavily. A good sigh. A sigh labeling the thought of a strong decision someone desired to make. "I'm going to join SOLDIER. I'm going to be the best there is, just like Sephiroth!"

There was yet another moment of silence, Tifa being not too sure what to think. The breeze gently swayed the grass back and forth, as if performing some type of slow dance, while in the background it rustled the foliage of the trees surrounding them outside Nibelheim. Behind them were nearby houses, dimly lit lights brightening the window, but not by much.

"Sephiroth…" Tifa broke the silence, but with a soft, quiet voice, "The Great Sephiroth… Isn't it hard to join SOLDIER?"

"…I probably won't be able to come back to this town for awhile." Cloud mentioned while Tifa looked over at him.

"Will you be in the newspapers if you do well?"

"I'll try."

Tifa thought for a moment, then gave Cloud a pondering look. He gave her a questioning look, only remained silent, awaiting her next words.

"Hey… Why don't we make a promise with each other?"

"A promise?" Cloud blinked. This he was curious about.

"Yeah! Umm, like… If you get really famous and I'm ever in a bind… you'll come to save me!"

"What?"

"See, whenever I'm in trouble, my hero will come and rescue me." She smiled, "I've always wanted to experience that at least once."

_What is she talking about…?_ Cloud thought. He gave here a mere questioning look.

"Come on—! Promise me—!"

"Alright, alright, I promise…"

**----------------  
_Flashback End_  
----------------**

"Do you remember now, Cloud…?" Tifa asked.

Cloud gave a sigh from the memories over-washing him. SOLDIER really took over a lot of his life, that he nearly forgot most of his childhood prior to SOLDIER. There was too many missions, stress, and concentration for improvement to be thinking about anything else.

"…Yeah." He looked up at her, "But…"

"But what?"

"I'm not a hero and I'm not famous. I can't… keep the promise…" There was a hint of hesitation in his voice, and a bit of guilt. Should he have stayed in SOLDIER?

"Cloud. Listen." Tifa began, "You got your childhood dream, didn't you? You joined SOLDIER! You've got to keep your promise…"

Before Cloud could have a chance at responding, a large figure was found climbing up the pole attached to the wall that raised and lowered the arcade elevator. He then jumped to the ground, near where Cloud and Tifa stood.

"Wait a second, big-time SOLDIER! A promise is a promise!" Barret instantly threw a small, closed purple bag at Cloud. He guessed it was his mission pay, because he heard small jingles within it. Coins.

"This is my pay?" Cloud shook his head, "Don't make me laugh."

"What? Then you'll…!" Tifa began, but Cloud interrupted, even though he basically answered her question.

"You got the next mission lined up?" He asked Barret. "I'll do it for 3,000gil."

"What?" Barret blew. But Tifa nodded to Barret and whispered.

"It's okay, it's okay. We're really hurting for help, right…?"

"Grrr, that money's for Marlene's schoolin'…" Barret shook his fist, but then turned back to Cloud and raised his gun arm in the air. "2,000!"

"Deal."

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**AN: **Agh, I'm sorry I couldn't put more action into this chapter. But I promise there'll be more in the next chapter. But I hope you enjoyed chapter 3. Find out what happens the next morning, after they leave Tifa's Seventh Heaven bar. Who's going and who's staying? What'll happen on the train? Also note, the more you review, the quicker I'll update. So it's up to you to see this story completely finished! I can't do it alone, y'know. Feedback, I love every ounce of it. Thank you for reading.


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